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News that Kodak, a company that completely missed out on the digital photography evolution, is now trying again with cryptocurrencies has caused its share price to surge in the past few days.

But is the excitement warranted, and is Kodak’s move a sign of more cryptobranding to come? The answer to both questions is an unreserved yes.

By delving into cryptocurrencies, Kodak promises to solve two long standing problems in one fell swoop. This is insuring that photographers get paid for fair use of their work while proving ownership.

Kodak has decided to develop its own cryptotechnology. While full details underlying this decision weren’t disclosed, one can’t help but wonder if bitcoin’s notorious price volatility and high transmission fees were factors. Many companies have recently stopped accepting payments in bitcoin for these reasons.

By creating a proprietary cryptocurrency, Kodak avoids both of these problems.

Kodak’s move is unprecedented

Regardless of the specific reasons, the underlying cryptocurrency technology will position Kodak as agent, financial intermediary and banker for photographers. Effectively Kodak will be able to control the full life cycle of a photograph’s use, extracting a fee at every stage.

This is unprecedented when looking at the businesses of existing stock photography companies, who control but one component.

At the genesis of Kodak’s services will be ownership verification. Once a photograph is accepted by Kodak for management, a unique “hash” will be calculated. Effectively a fingerprint of the photograph, Kodak will be able to not only prove ownership but also scan the web for unauthorised usage.

Even more excitingly, not only can unauthorised usage of photographs be detected but full negotiation and payment for the rights can be automated by means of what are called “smart contracts”. These digital contracts eliminate the need for human interaction, allowing Kodak to neatly undercut legacy service providers with their embedded cost structures.

Validity to the excitement

So it looks as though the excitement for Kodak’s decision is warranted, and there is more cryptobranding on the way. Recent developments have proven that almost any company claiming some association with bitcoin or cryptocurrencies will see their share prices soar.

This is reminiscent of the 1990s “dot com” bubble, with internet substituted for cryptocurrency.

But like the “dot com” bubble there is a shred of validity to the excitement. As Kodak’s adaption has proven, cryptocurrency is a remarkable flexible technology, but still in its infancy. As more people become acquainted with its capabilities, we’ll likely see additional, even more startling applications.

The KodakCoin shouldn’t be viewed as a one-off, rather another sign that a significant revolution is underway.

David Coker is a lecturer in finance in Westminster Business School, University of Westminster.

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